No oil price hike this month — DOE

Local oil companies will not increase prices of petroleum products this month, according to the energy department.

Energy Secretary Mario Tiaoqui said that he had received reassurances from the oil companies that they were not inclined to increase prices at the moment.

"They have not increased their prices. From what we understand they will not increase in November. That is the information we received from them," Tiaoqui told The STAR.

One of the major reasons for this is the three-month suspension of the three-percent import tariff on crude oil and various types of refined petroleum products. Executive Order (EO) 314 was signed Nov. 8 and took effect immediately.

However, several oil companies complained that officials of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) were looking for a memorandum from the Department of Finance (DOF) before they would implement the executive order.

Reacting to the reports, Tiaoqui said that he had held talks with Customs Commissioner Renato Ampil last week and they "already have an understanding on the EO’s implementation."

"I talked to (Customs) Commissioner Ampil, and as far as government is concerned that executive order is already implemented, in effect."

Nonetheless, he said that "we can check that again with the Finance and Customs officials."

Energy officials said that oil companies do not have the full fundamentals for an increase at the moment with the three-month suspension of the import tariff. Likewise, the price of imported crude oil remains in the $31 per barrel level "for some time now" while the peso has remained below P50 to the dollar.

The average price of Dubai crude stood at $31.05 per barrel as of Nov. 21 while the peso was valued at 50.15 to the dollar. On Nov. 21 alone, the peso was trading at 49.55 while Dubai slipped somewhat to $29.46 per barrel.

Earlier, Caltex Philippines Inc. said it wanted a price adjustment of between 70 and 75 centavos per liter. With the strict implementation of EO 314, the projected price adjustment would drop by P0.25 to P0.30 per liter.

However, Caltex country chairman Nicolas Florio said that they were still studying the fundamentals while ensuring that EO 314 is enforced.
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Petron Corp. had also admitted that they were not adjusting local pump prices taking into consideration not only the economic fundamentals of foreign exchange and imported crude prices, but also the socio-political conditions.

Petron chairman Jose Syjuco Jr. told The STAR that they are sensitive to and closely watching the socio-political climate. "We remain sensitive to the socio-political environment, and we are looking at the government’s initiatives to mitigate any price increases."

Shell vice president Rey Gamboa earlier declared that they could hold back any increases for the next few weeks if the government suspends the three-percent tariff on petroleum products.